News

Ontario Government Announces Grants to Help Improve Transit in Communities Across the Province

Simcoe County to Receive $445,450 as Part of Ontario’s Community Transportation Grant Program

SIMCOE NORTH - Ontario’s Government for the People is helping 40 communities across the province improve transportation services within and between communities to make it easier for people to get around.

Jill Dunlop, MPP for Simcoe North, stated that Simcoe County would be receiving $445,450 of support through the Community Transportation Grant Program.

“This investment will improve the quality of life for many people in our communities that are currently underserved by transit. Whether it’s seniors, students or others, access to transit helps people get where they need to be and live active, independent lives” said Dunlop.

The program will make it more convenient for Ontarians, including seniors, students, youths and persons with disabilities to access essential services in their communities, connect with other transportation services, and travel between cities and towns.

Through the program, the province will provide municipalities with $30 million over five years to support local transit and intercommunity bus service in areas with little or no public transit. Funding will be provided for 45 different projects in 40 communities.

BACKGROUND

Up to $30 million in grants over five years will be awarded to municipalities to partner with community organizations, health agencies, transit agencies, school-bus and private transportation operators, to coordinate local transportation services and/or run intercommunity routes.

The new Community Transportation Grant Program builds on a successful pilot program that provided nearly $3 million in funding for 22 municipalities since 2015.

In the first year of the pilot program, more than 28,000 people used the new services to make more than 105,000 trips.

SIMCOE NORTH – The Ontario government is prioritizing the health and safety of patients by taking immediate action and providing 128 hospitals across the province with funding to upgrade, repair and maintain their facilities.

The following hospitals in Simcoe North are receiving funding this year through the Health Infrastructure Renewal Fund:

Georgian Bay General Hospital - $1,077,693

Orillia Soldiers' Memorial Hospital - $1,086,336

Waypoint Centre for Mental Health - $633,942

“The health and safety of patients and families is a priority for our government,” said MPP Jill Dunlop. “That’s why we must make the necessary investments in our hospitals now, to ensure our providers have the facilities they need to continue to provide excellent quality care to patients. This funding will help ensure hospitals across Simcoe North are able to make the needed upgrades, improvements and maintenance so patients and families have access to reliable, quality care they expect and deserve.”

The government is moving forward quickly to address challenges facing the health care system as it develops a long-term transformational health care strategy to end hallway health care. As this important work continues, this funding will allow hospitals to address urgent issues, including upgrades or replacements of roofs, windows, heating and air conditioning systems, fire alarms and back-up generators.

“Our government is investing in essential health care projects to ensure the people of Ontario will have health care services they can depend on now and for future generations,” said Deputy Premier and Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, Christine Elliott. “We will continue to listen to the patients and the people who plan and work on the frontlines. Together, we will create a health care system that works for the people of Ontario.”

QUICK FACTS

Ontario is investing $175 million in repairs and upgrades to 128 hospitals this year through the Health Infrastructure Renewal Fund.

In 2018-2019, the government has invested an additional $90 million for 1,100 beds and spaces in hospitals and the community, including the creation of over 640 new beds and spaces.

Government is seeking input from residents to determine priorities for next provincial budget

SIMCOE NORTH – Jill Dunlop, MPP for Simcoe North, will be hosting two pre-budget consultations in order to hear directly from residents on how best to cut red tape, improve government services, and save taxpayers money.

The first consultation will be taking place on January 25th, 2019 from 8:30am until 10:30am at the City of Orillia Building in the Tudhope Boardroom. The second consultation will be taking place on January 31st, 2019 from 7:00pm until 8:30pm at the North Simcoe Sports & Recreation Centre in the Multi-Purpose Room.

Residents are encouraged to attend and present their ideas on innovative and cost-effective ways to improve the delivery of government programs, cut red tape, reduce the deficit in Ontario, and save taxpayer dollars. The government of Ontario would also like to hear ideas on how to support and promote job creation and job growth as well as ways to end hallway healthcare.

“This is a great opportunity for residents to have their voices heard on important issues,” said MPP Dunlop. “Our government is looking for ways to work smarter, spend smarter and reinvent the way services are delivered.” Dunlop said she was looking forward hearing directly from residents of Simcoe North on how they believe the Ontario government could best fulfill their five core commitments to: put more money in people’s pockets; clean up the hydro mess by lowering hydro bills; make Ontario open for business by creating and protecting jobs; restore accountability and trust to end the culture of waste and mismanagement in government; and cut hospital wait times and end hallway healthcare.

In order to participate and guarantee a space in the consultation, residents must RSVP due to fire code restrictions. All participants will receive 3 minutes to present their ideas and are asked to have a written submission or hard copy of ideas so that they can be forwarded to the Ministry of Finance. To RSVP, please email: jenna.taylor@pc.ola.org or call the Orillia constituency office at 705-326-3246.

If you are unable to make a presentation but would like to make a submission, you may also mail your submission to MPP Dunlop’s office at: 14 Coldwater Road West, Orillia, ON, L3V 3L1 or email a PDF format to: jill.dunlopco@pc.ola.org. The deadline to submit a written package is February 8th, 2019.

SIMCOE NORTH — The Ontario government announced this week that the Town of Penetanguishene was receiving an investment in their water and wastewater services. The new funding was announced jointly by the province and the Government of Canada, under the Clean Water and Wastewater Fund (CWWF), which will fund more than 1,300 projects and provide $1.1 billion in total investments.

MPP Jill Dunlop stated that local residents of Penetanguishene would soon have better access to modern, reliable water and wastewater services. “Our government is committed to making life easier for the people of this province. There are few things more important than a reliable, safe supply of water. This funding announcement for Simcoe North illustrates once again that our government is working for all Ontarians, including families in rural Ontario,” said Dunlop.

The Town of Penetanguishene is receiving a total of $55,000 in funding from the Ontario government for projects to improve the safety and quality of water for families in Simcoe North. These projects include the installation of sentinel monitoring well ($5,000), the engineering design for the installation of a dechlorinating system ($18,750), and the Navy Lane pumpstation rehabilitation ($31,250).

“Investing in water and wastewater infrastructure will result in safer, cleaner water for people to drink, preserve local ecosystems and protect waterways,” said Monte McNaughton, Ontario’s Minister of Infrastructure.

These projects help the people of Ontario by supporting their critical water, wastewater and storm water rehabilitation and modernization projects.

SIMCOE NORTH – Today Jeff Yurek, Minister of Transportation, and Parliamentary Assistant Kinga Surma announced that the Ontario government is helping 107 municipalities across the province expand or improve their public transit systems with Ontario’s gas tax program.

This year, the province is providing $364 million in gas tax funding to 107 municipalities providing public transit service to 144 communities across Ontario. These communities represent over 92 per cent of Ontario’s total population.

Municipalities in Simcoe North received a total of $815,184 in gas tax funding – the City of Orillia received $548,399, the Town of Midland received $182,611, and the town of Penetanguishene received $84,174 in funding. Simcoe County also received $898,331 in funding.

“This is an important investment,” said MPP Jill Dunlop. “This funding will help upgrading transit infrastructure and increasing accessibility. It could allow municipalities to extend hours of their service or even add more routes. This is great news for all commuters in our riding and will help bring more convenience to daily travel.”

The funding formula was based on a 70/30 split between ridership and population and was developed to strike a fair balance between the needs of large established systems and those of smaller municipalities, while accommodating the special needs of high growth areas. Municipalities receiving gas tax funding must use these funds towards their public transit capital and/or operating expenditures.

“We are investing in public transit to make it a more convenient travel option and attract more riders,” said Yurek. “More public transit will cut through gridlock and get people moving.” Funding for Ontario’s gas tax program is determined by the number of litres of gasoline sold in the province. The program provides municipalities with two cents per litre of provincial gas tax revenues.

Simcoe North – The Ontario government is making life more affordable by bringing relief to Ontario’s tourism operators who rely on the province’s Tourism-Oriented Directional Signing Program (TODS) to generate a positive economic impact in Simcoe North.

In April 2018, the Liberal government signed a contract with Canadian TODS Limited towards the end of their administration. The people of Ontario have expressed their concerns about this contract, and the significant fee increases being placed on small business owners across the province.

“Our government is listening to small business owners and tourism operators,” said MPP Jill Dunlop. “We have worked with Canadian TODS Limited – the third party responsible for the delivery and maintenance of the TODS program – to freeze all price increases for 2019.” Dunlop stated that this new announcement was welcome news for communities across Simcoe North – a riding made up of of small and medium sized businesses, with significant tourist attractions.

Michael Tibollo, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport said that the government had heard clearly from tourism operators across the province about their concerns regarding the fee increases associated with the TODS program. “The Liberal government deliberately froze prices for 10 years, ignoring the cost of inflation, and completely failed to communicate with TODS customers,” said Tibollo. “We are taking real action to ensure businesses and customers have time to adjust to the increased prices, and we look forward to continuing to work with Canadian TODS Limited over the coming year to look for ways we can help mitigate this price increase.”

The TODS program is designed to provide motorists with signage on provincial highways to direct visitors to tourist attractions, operations and services.

“Our Government for the People was elected on June 7 with a clear mandate to respect the taxpayers of this province and to restore trust and accountability in the province’s finances,” said Jeff Yurek, Minister of Transportation. “We heard loud and clear from small business owners across Ontario, and have fixed a problem that the previous government created. Today we’re providing relief to small business owners, as we do our part in promoting and strengthening tourism in Ontario.”

Ontario’s Government Supporting Compassionate End-Of-Life CareHelping more people get end-of-life care in a home-like setting

Queen’s Park — Ontario’s is providing more people in Simcoe North with the compassionate care they deserve when nearing the end of their lives. Yesterday, the government announced they would be moving forward with plans to build 5 new hospice beds for Mariposa House Hospice and 5 news beds for Hospice Huronia.

MPP Jill Dunlop was thrilled with the news that two hospices in her riding were receiving the funding. “I believe everyone should have access to dignified end-of-life care that respects the wishes of the patient and their loved ones,” said MPP Jill Dunlop. “This is exciting news for our community as I know there have been so many of us involved, working hard to see this funding come to Simcoe North. I am proud our government is committed to improving access to comfortable, end-of-life care in communities across the province.”

Hospices provide patients with palliative care in a comfortable space, where they can be close to loved ones. In this environment, family and friends can have peace of mind knowing that patients will have access to appropriate end-of-life care. Hospice care focuses on relieving suffering and providing services like psychological, spiritual and bereavement support.

“Building new hospice beds across Ontario will provide people with end-of-life care and support in a more comfortable setting,” said Minister of Health and Long-Term Care Christine Elliott. “With early investments like these, our government is ensuring that these patients are provided with the proper comfort, dignity and respect they deserve. This will also help to make more beds available for those who need hospital care. Our government is moving forward quickly to address challenges facing the health care system as we develop our long-term transformational health care strategy.”

Ontario is investing nearly $36.6 million to build 193 new hospice beds across the province. When these beds open, the government will provide $20.3 million each year in operational funding for nursing, personal support, and other services. Our government is investing an additional $90 million in 2018-19 to build 1,100 beds and spaces in hospitals and the community, including 640 new beds and spaces.

“Our government is increasing access to hospice beds across the province, by providing appropriate end-of-life care for those who need it,” said Parliamentary Assistant for Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (Long-Term Care) Effie Triantafilopoulos. “This investment is also helping to address hallway health care, by ensuring more hospital beds remain available for those in need of acute care. We’re creating more beds and spaces to alleviate the pressures on our health care system.”

GBGH Has Been Provided $242,000 in Funding for Hospital Beds to Help Reduce Strain on Health Care System During This Year’s Flu Season

Queen’s Park – Our government is taking another step toward ending hallway health care for families and patients in Simcoe North with the most recent announcement to provide Georgian Bay General Hospital $242,000 in funding for surge beds. The funding will be given to GBGH to use towards four surge beds for a four-month period in order to reduce the strain on the health care system during this year’s flu season.

MPP Jill Dunlop was pleased with the news that her riding was receiving the funding, stating that she understands the health care system is facing significant capacity challenges which is contributing to the use of unconventional spaces for patient care. “It is important that patients are able to access quality, safe care and with this additional surge bed funding, our government is once again illustrating their commitment to improve capacity and develop innovative solutions and approaches to the current challenges we are seeing in the health care system,” said Dunlop.

Funding for beds and spaces were selected based on the areas where hospitals act as regional support centres as well as ones with the highest capacity pressures. New beds and spaces were evaluated on high priority areas and ability to increase capacity in and outside of a hospital setting.

This follows the announcement made by the government in early October that Ontario would be moving forward with building 6,000 new long-term care beds across Ontario as part of the first wave of more than 15,000 new long-term care beds that the government committed to building over the next 5 years. The $242,000 surge funding for GBGH was announced after the original announcement that Simcoe North was receiving a total of 22 new long-term care beds – 19 new beds at the Villa Care Centre in Midland and 3 new beds at the Georgian Manor Home for the Aged in Penetanguishene.

“Our government will continue to listen to the people who plan and work on the front lines of our health care system as we continue to develop a long-term comprehensive health system capacity plan,” said MPP Dunlop. “We know that long wait lists for a bed in a long-term care home can create added pressures in other parts of our health care system, like our hospitals. We are working to end hallway health care and we are taking urgent action to expand access for patients across Ontario.”

Queen’s Park - Our government has announced investments to help create jobs and prosperity in rural and Indigenous communities. Nearly one in eight jobs in Ontario is sustained by the agriculture and agri-food sector, which contributes to a healthy economy that benefits rural and urban communities across the province.

Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Ernie Hardeman made an announcement that various municipalities across Simcoe North are receiving funding to conduct programs that aim to attract investment, remove barriers to economic development, and grow our local economy.

The Rural Economic Development program is part of our government’s commitment to rural communities which also includes infrastructure investments, and expanding access to natural gas and broadband. The provincial funding, totalling over $150,000, was approved for the Township of Ramara (up to $30,000), the Township of Severn (up to $15,000), the City of Orillia (up to $60,000), the Orillia Area Community Development Corporation (up to $23,000), and the County of Simcoe (up to $23,000).

“This is great news for our riding,” said MPP Jill Dunlop. “This provincial funding is supporting support our organizations and municipalities as they work to boost and diversify our local economy, enhance investment attraction efforts, and develop future innovative opportunities for business community market growth.” MPP Dunlop stated that this announcement was just another example of the government’s commitment to ensure that rural Ontario is open for business.

“Rural Ontario has been ignored for too long. We are making it a priority in this government,” said Hardeman. “These investments will help create a strong future for our rural communities by boosting economic growth, creating jobs and ensuring they are great places to live and do business.”

Dunlop echoed the Minister’s statement, saying, “It is clear that our government is dedicated to making all of Ontario open for business. In order to restore Ontario to the great economic engine it once was, we need to promote and support all businesses across Ontario and that includes rural Ontario. We have a first-class agri-food and agriculture sector, and I am pleased to be able to help our community identify their economic strengths and develop strategies that can attract business and investment. This will help bring more economic growth to our communities in Simcoe North and it is part of our government’s commitment to bringing good jobs back to Ontario.”

The Rural Economic Development program supports projects that help create jobs and prosperity, and invest in rural community economic development. This program is also helping communities identify their economic strengths and develop strategies to attract business and investment. It is part of the government’s commitment to ensure that rural Ontario is open for business.

Our Government is Taking Immediate Action to End Hallway Health CareProvince securing more than 1,100 hospital beds and creating 6,000 new long-term care beds to ease hospital gridlock in communities that need it most

QUEEN'S PARK – Ontario’s Government for the People is delivering on its promise to end hallway health care by taking urgent action to expand access to long-term care, reduce the strain on the health care system in advance of the upcoming flu season and work with front line health care professionals and other experts to transform the province’s health care system.

Yesterday, Premier Doug Ford and Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, announced that Ontario is moving forward with building 6,000 new long-term care beds across Ontario, representing the first wave of more than 15,000 new long-term care beds that the government has committed to build over the next 5 years.

“We are taking the necessary steps to end hallway health care,” said MPP Jill Dunlop. “With this announcement, we will see 22 new long-term beds in our riding of Simcoe North. There will be 19 new beds added at the Villa Care Centre in Midland and three new beds added at Georgian Manor Home for the Aged in Penetanguishene.” This move will help relieve pressure on hospitals and help doctors and nurses work more efficiently, and provide better, faster health care for patients and their families.

MPP Dunlop stated that the additional $90 million investment to address hallway medicine will create 640 new beds and spaces and also extend funding for spaces already operating in the hospital and community sectors.

“One patient treated in a hallway is one patient too many,” said Dunlop. “We said we were going to make our hospitals run better in this province and with this announcement, we are showing that we are keeping our promise. We are listening to Ontarians and we are moving forward to address the direct challenges we are seeing in Ontario’s health care system.”

As an immediate measure, Ford and Elliott also announced that Ontario will create 640 new beds and spaces and extend funding for spaces already operating in the hospital and community sectors across Ontario to help communities prepare for the surge that accompanies the upcoming flu season.

“Hallway health care is a multi-faceted problem that will require real and innovative solutions,” said Minister Elliott. “Our government will continue to listen to the people who work on the front lines of our health care system as we develop a long-term, transformational strategy to address hallway health care.”